Volpone is Ben Jonson's most popular comedy. The con or swindle was a familiar theme, and one which Jonson found to be a natural topic for comedy, since he also used the swindle in The Alchemist. There is little information about how Ben Jonson's Volpone was received by the public, since plays were not reviewed during the period in which this play was composed. Instead, response to a play may be determined by examining how often it has been produced in the years since its creation. Yet another way to gauge a play's popularity is through anecdotal evidence: letters, diaries, and journal entries from the period. Most Jonson scholars acknowledge that Jonson's plays were not generally well received. The audience was often loudly critical, and several of Jonson's plays were hissed from the stage. This is not necessarily because the plays were not entertaining or topical...